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The Trump administration has suspended leases on all large offshore wind projects in a fresh attack on the sector, which the US president has repeatedly criticised.
The US government cited national security concerns as it said it was pausing the leases to the “expensive, unreliable, heavily subsidised projects”, effective immediately.
In a post on X, interior secretary Doug Burgum said President Donald Trump was “bringing back common sense to energy policy and putting security FIRST!”
Shares in Ørsted, the world’s largest offshore wind developer, fell by more than 14 per cent after the announcement, while those in wind turbine maker Vestas fell more than 4 per cent.
Both companies are listed in Denmark. US-listed Dominion Energy’s stock dropped 5 per cent in early morning trading.
Trump has previously described wind as the “worst” and “most expensive” form of energy and has taken several steps to thwart offshore projects since taking office.
In a press release, the Department of the Interior said Monday’s move followed “national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently classified reports”.
It also pointed to what it claimed were “inherent” risks of radar interference from the turbines.
The announcement covers five wind farms in total. Some have previously been targeted by the administration, such as Ørsted’s Revolution Wind and Equinor’s Empire Wind
The suspension also includes Dominion Energy’s $10.8bn Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. The project was thought to be in a favourable position because of its advanced stage of construction and the advocacy of Republican governor Glenn Youngkin.
Vineyard Wind, a project off the coast of Massachusetts, and Sunrise Wind, which is between Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, were also named in the announcement.
In recent weeks the Trump administration’s push against offshore wind encountered a setback when a Massachusetts district court struck down a ban on issuing new permits after 17 states, Washington DC and clean energy groups sued the government.
A federal judge in September also allowed Ørsted to continue work on the Revolution Wind farm, blocking a stop work order issued by the Trump administration.
Today’s decision is a major blow for the developer, which had to tap shareholders for an extra $9bn in a rights issue in October after Trump’s hostility to the sector stymied its efforts to sell a stake in its Sunrise Wind project.
The Department of the Interior said in a statement that the pause would give the government “time to work with leaseholders and state partners to assess the possibility of mitigating the national security risks posed by these projects”.
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